Cassius Sinclair sat at an interrogative table in a prison jumpsuit, impatiently rattling his fingers on the table. Claude was keeping him waiting, he knew it. Perhaps the old fool had failed to convince the prosecution to accept his plea deal? I shouldn't have had that old fool sent to me. Elezar is certainly going to be given an earful from me when I return to the base! He wasn't too afraid of facing the courts. He knew that many in Arcana were beginning to see Michael Kingston as emotionally unstable and a danger to ideas of justice and democracy, so long as Walter O'Hara had still been railing against him. The TV Show host was certainly good at getting under people's skin, as was shown by Michael's near assault of him during their interview. Cassius had seen it when Claude came to visit him the evening that all transpired. It took Cassius a great deal of restraint to keep his cackling to a minimum. But for now, he had to act as the innocent scientist being persecuted because of an unfortunate affiliation with Giselle Odelia. It's only unfortunate because the foolish girl couldn't stop Michael Kingston from coming back and exposing her he said to himself.
The door to the room finally opened and Claude entered, briefcase in hand. He sat opposite Claude at the table and cleared his throat. Before he could say anything, though, Cassius leaped at the moment. "Alright, out with it! Why have you been keeping me here for so long? Did you or did you not get the plea deal we negotiated?"
"Calm yourself, Cassius" Claude responded bluntly. "I do have some news for you, though. Cameron Kingston has answered the terms of our deal in full. She believes exactly what the rest of the region does. That Michael Kingston is unstable and cannot be trusted to abide by justice."
Cassius seemed surprised. "Of all of the Elite Four to betray Michael, I didn't expect it to be Cameron."
"She's interested in preserving her own climb towards power" Claude told him. "It matters little to you, though. What matters is that she agreed to our terms in full and signed my contract. You are to be sent to a rehabilitation center in the west, where you are to remain until you are deemed fit to return to society."
Cassius folded his arms. "An interesting idea. But now that I think of it, I'd rather walk out of the Courts a free and exonerated man. If the Elite Four is collapsing right in front of us, I should very much not like to be the last casualty of their ill-begotten regime."
Claude nodded. "As I said, Cassius, you are to be sent to a rehabilitation center in the west. Whether you ever arrive there or not depends on how needed you are to other parties involved in Arcana."
"Other parties?" Cassius asked.
"Perhaps Michael no longer believes in the rule of common law and seeks to annihilate you before you are sent there" Claude reasoned.
"Michael may be a simpleton, but he certainly wouldn't be that much of a fool" Cassius said.
"Or" Claude continued, "perhaps your helicopter will make an unscheduled stop near Mt. Heatmor."
Cassius's eyes widened. "Claude? Do you mean-"
"We will discuss the terms later" Claude said, rising to his feet. "I have a meeting with another one of my clients in the general vicinity of Mt. Heatmor. But, I do have a parting bit of news to give to you." He passed a folded piece of parchment towards Cassius. With that, Claude turned and exited the interrogation room.
Cassius unfolded the piece of paper and grinned as he read what was written on it:
Long live The Grand Master
The Syndicate Will Rise!
{Meanwhile}
Morning at Kingston Castle came sooner than Ryan had been expecting it to come. Nevertheless, he yawned and jumped out of bed. He looked towards his brother's bed, but was surprised to find it empty. Guess I must be late. Ryan quickly dressed himself in his old outfit, which thanks to the servants at Kingston Castle had been cleaned and prepped for another series of days slogging through the region on his quest for the title of Pokémon Master. Once he had adjusted his bandanna on his head, he was prepared to run downstairs, when he saw something going through his bag. Seeing who the culprit was, Ryan picked his Sandshrew up by it's ankles and pulled him out of his bed.
"Why?" Ryan asked his Pokémon.
The Sandshrew hugged Ryan as if they hadn't seen each other in days, prompting Ryan to simply decide to let the Ground Pokémon out of his Poké Ball for a little bit and head out on the road with him and his friends. He and the Sandshrew made their way through the halls, which had already been cleaned and fixed from the previous evening.
"Good morning, Sir" Gerard called to Ryan from the bottom of the steps.
"Good morning to you too, Gerard" Ryan replied, racing to the butler's side.
"Your presence has been requested in the Dining Hall by Lord Kingston" the butler told him.
"Lord Kingston?" Ryan asked.
"Your cousin" the butler told him dryly. "I shall send Miss Queensbury and Miss Tenton down to you as soon as they are prepared." The butler then walked right past Ryan and the Sandshrew and up the stairs.
Ryan turned towards his Pokémon and sighed. "Come on, Sandshrew. Let's go see Mike!" The two hurried into the dining hall and skidded to a stop when they saw a huge buffet breakfast out for them to eat. Anything Ryan could have possibly asked for was there. Eggs, Waffles, Pancakes, Bacon, Sausage, Fruit, Cereal, Ham, Potatoes, Rice and all the trims and trimmings. "Wow" was all he could muster.
"I figured you guys would want a big breakfast before you went on your way" Michael called to him from the table. "Or, at least Grandma did."
"Where is Grandma?" Ryan asked.
"I'm out on the terrace, my dear" his Grandmother called from outside the dining hall. "I eat far earlier than you boys. I'll be enjoying my tea out here until I'm needed."
"Okay, Grandma" Ryan called to her as he sat down. "So Mike? Have you seen Matt?"
Michael put together a plate of food for himself before sitting down at the head of the table. "He left early in the morning. He said something about wanting to get to Alchemiburg and battle my Mom before he fell behind. You two are still planning to rival each other, I see."
Ryan frowned. "I thought he would have stayed with us."
"There's nothing for him to gain back in Terra Town" Michael told him. "At least nothing he doesn't already have." With that, Michael took a bite of one of the waffles he took for himself. When he swallowed his fill, he then continued. "Besides, I'm sure you two will meet up again as soon as you make it to Taghwan City."
Ryan sighed. "I guess you're right." He took a berry from the Fruit Salad and handed it to his Sandshrew, who gobbled it up happily by his trainer's feet.
"Did you have a good time, last night?" Michael asked him.
"A lot more than I thought I would" Ryan replied. "But I hope I don't have to do that ever again."
Michael laughed. "It's once a year, Ryan, so you shouldn't have to dress up like that again. But, considering all the rave reviews I've heard about you and your brother yesterday, I thought you'd boys would want to come to more of these." He then ate a piece of bacon and drank from his glass of freshly squeezed Berry Juice. "Madame Augustine told me her daughters wouldn't stop talking about you two at the banquet. I think you two have admirers."
Ryan shrugged. "I guess we just have that natural Kingston charm."
"The charm that passed over Chris" Michael laughed.
"Did you want to travel with us to Terra Town, Mike?" Ryan asked his cousin.
"Sounds tempting" Michael told his cousin, "but I have to say no. I haven't seen Julia in a few days and I want to get home to her. You guys go on and have fun without me. I'm sure you will." The two continued to eat their breakfast in relative quiet until the doors opened and Piper walked in on their breakfast. Ryan couldn't help but admire her. Even when she wasn't dressed up for the ball, she looked simply stunning. He turned beet red as she walked past the table and prepared to sit on the terrace with Bonnie. "Hey Piper, you don't want any breakfast?"
Piper eyed him, still half asleep. "Oh, no thank you, Mikey. I just want a cup of tea with Lady Kingston here before I head off on my way." With that, she slipped out the door and out of their sight.
"She looked great last night" Ryan remarked dreamily.
"She certainly did" Michael told his cousin.
The two then spotted Addison and Holly making their way for the Dining Hall. Addison sat down beside Ryan as if nothing at all had changed between them the night prior. Holly sat across from Ryan, seemingly unable to look at him at the moment. She simply shoved food onto a plate for herself and began to eat. Addison turned towards the boys.
"I hope you guys didn't have any fun without us, last night" she called to Ryan and Michael.
"Trust me" Michael assured her, "we were in bed not long after you were. Well, at least I was."
"That night was a lot more fun than I thought it would be" Addison remarked. "I always dreamed of being at a gala like yesterday, but I never dreamed it would be as much fun as it was last night." She turned towards Michael. "And I can't believe that Jeremy actually wanted to know my Poké Gear number."
Ryan coughed at the revelation, nearly shooting a glass of Moo Moo Milk out of his nose. He quickly gained composure. "Jeremy?"
"Jeremy Lockhart" Michael told his cousin. "An aspiring Pokémon Trainer from the Magenta Grove. He seemed to have taken a little fancy to you, Addy."
Addison beamed. "Well, I don't know about that. But he certainly was nice."
Ryan grumbled jealously. "Yeah, if you're into pretty boy princes."
"What about you, Holly?" Michael asked the quietest person at the table. "Did you meet anyone at the ball?"
Holly stopped eating and nervously gulped. "I-I-I think I met someone-someone I didn't think would be so handsome."
"Who was he?" Addison asked.
"I-um-" Holly nervously teetered.
Michael, seeing the extremely shy glances she'd make towards Ryan, got the message and came to her aid. "Well, it's all the same. I'm sure whatever is fated to be from last night will be fated to be." Once he had cleaned his plate, the Champion rose from the table. "Well, if you three will excuse me, I have a lovely lady waiting for me back in Parlor Town. I will probably see you guys at some point before you get there, but if I don't, good luck in the Contests at Parlor Town. And Ryan? Good luck on your battle with Greg." With that, he made his way out into the courtyard to say his farewells to Piper and his Grandmother.
"Oh come on, Holly" Addison pestered her. "Who was the guy you met last night? Was it Eric? Or Jeremy? Or was it that Austin kid? Come on, who was it?"
Holly pushed her plate away and sighed. "Well, you definitely danced with him. That's all I'll say on it right now."
"Come on Addy" Ryan told his friend. "Don't bother her. If she's ever ready to say anything, she can say it when she's ready."
"Fair enough" Addison said. "Sorry, Holly."
Holly, who had begun to blush when Ryan came to her defense, quickly tried to change the subject. "So, when are we headed out on the road?"
"As soon as we're all ready" Ryan told the girls. "Matt's already left for Alchemiburg to face my Aunt Erin and get her badge. So it's just going to be the three of us again."
Addison nodded. "Good. One less boy to worry about, right Holly?"
Holly nodded nervously. "Yeah. Once less...boy."
{Some Time Later}
After bidding his Grandmother and the Queen of Arcana a fond farewell, Ryan and his friends made their way from Kingston Castle and back on the long road to getting Ryan his third Gym Badge in Terra Town. Ryan, his Sandshrew by his side, is bound and determined to defeat Tori's fiancé in battle any way that he could.
Addison, her Eevee now resting where Ryan's used to atop her head, is studying up on Ground Pokémon to help prep Ryan for his next Gym Battle. She thumbs through articles, type matchups and potential moves that the Pokémon might know and he should be wary of. She then began to compile the results so that Ryan might be able to properly train his Pokémon for the big battle that was to unfold when they made it to Terra Town.
Holly was unnaturally quiet, especially when she was in Ryan's line of sight. She kept to herself, amusing herself by looking through articles about the Ball from the previous evening. If Ryan or Addison said anything to her, she would act as if she didn't hear it and was lost in her own thoughts. Though, as if motivated by some unseen force, she would be inching her way ever closer towards Ryan. Whether she would ever get the bravery to finally talk to him about her budding feelings or not, she did not yet know. She did know, though, that if she didn't act on them soon, Addison might make a move on him first.
"Okay" Addison spoke up after compiling her information on Ground Pokémon for Ryan to go through. "Ground Pokémon are really tough and strong. And for you, they're going to be even harder."
"How so?" Ryan asked.
"Ryan can take on any challenge he sets his mind to" Holly insisted, shocking both Addison and Ryan.
"Uh, thanks Holly" Ryan remarked.
"My pleasure" Holly said, batting her eyelashes at him.
Addison sighed. "Anyway, Ground is probably the hardest type for you to overcome right now, Ryan. Ground is strong against Rock, Fire and Electric. It's only weaknesses are Ice, Water and Grass. Honestly, if you're not going to catch one of those types, you're going to have to out muscle Greg's Pokémon."
"Then I think we should start looking for some Water Types or Grass Type Pokémon" Holly said.
"I'm inclined to agree with her, Ryan" Addison said. "You could really use a little balance in your team."
"Well, where are we going to find some of these Pokémon?" Ryan asked.
"You just leave that to us" Holly insisted.
Ryan shrugged. "What about Flying Types?" he asked Addison.
"What about them?"
"Well, can't Ground Pokémon not affect Flying Types?"
Addison paused. "How did you know that?"
"I'm learning" Ryan grinned. "Thanks to you."
Addison nodded. "Yes. You can battle a Ground Type with a Flying Type, but I'd imagine a Ground Type would have a move that could counter it. Maybe like a Rock Type move or something. You can't be too reliant on that, especially when Flying isn't really strong against Ground."
Ryan looked around for a sign of any Grass or Water types, but the area was seemingly devoid of Pokémon of any types. That is, until a small and frail little Pokémon is flung from a bush near where they were walking. The Pokémon was white with a small green top with a red feeler atop it's head. Though it appeared to be blind, the Pokémon knew exactly where to run, rushing behind Addison and hiding near her foot.
"What's wrong, little fella?" Holly asked.
Addison looked up the Pokémon in her Pokédex App. "It's a Ralts. A Psychic/Fairy Type Pokémon. But what could she possibly be afraid of?"
From out of the bushes appeared another Pokémon, similar to Ralts, but slightly bigger with a more refined body. It glared at the Ralts and was about to charge at it, but stopped when it noticed the Ralts was hiding behind people. It huffed angrily before disappearing back into the bushes.
"And that was a Kirlia" Addison said.
"What was it's problem?" Ryan asked.
"The poor little thing is scared to death" Holly pointed out.
Addison lowered her Poké Gear and scooped the little Pokémon into her arms. The Ralts, too timid to do anything, simply fell into her arms, almost as if crying. "Aw, it's okay sweetie" she told the Ralts. "You don't have to be scared anymore. We'll look after you."
The Ralts tried to explain herself, but since neither of the three spoke Pokémon, she seemed ready to cry even more. Addison thought for a moment and then looked to her Eevee. "Hey, Ariel? Why don't you see what's wrong with her." The Eevee came down her shoulder and began to bark softly at the Ralts. The Ralts began to mime out what had happened to it to the Pokémon, before using Teleport to warp out of Addison's hands and back towards the bush. Ariel leaped off of Addison and turned back to her trainer, barking at her.
"I think she wants us to follow her" Ryan said.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Addison said, crawling into the bushes after her Eevee and the Ralts. Ryan followed her, with Holly tailing him and soon the three were crawling far deeper into the woods than they'd have preferred. But when they reached the end of the bushes, they saw Eevee and Ralts slide down a hill and into a valley of some kind. Addison followed without hesitation, while Ryan and Holly tried to keep up with her. 0
Holly stumbled as she slid and fell onto the ground, causing a panic among the Ralts and Addison's Eevee. Ryan was right by her side and pulled her to her feet in a moment, and soon, the humans found themselves surrounded by an entire colony of Ralts. The Ralts at first panic when they see all the humans near them, though Holly appeared more afraid of them than they were of her, proving such by hiding behind Ryan.
"I don't think they want to hurt you" Ryan assured his friend.
"Then explain that one!" she exclaimed, pointing towards the Kirlia that now marched back into battle position. Ryan looked behind the Kirlia and saw a stone identical to the one that Piper had given him for rescuing them from Anthony's Banette.
"What's going on here?" Addison said.
"That's a Dawn Stone!" Ryan told his friends. "Piper gave me one."
"What's a Dawn Stone?" Holly asked.
"It's an evolutionary stone" Addison explained. "It's supposed to evolve a Male Kirlia into a Gallade or a Female Snorunt into a Froslass. But why hasn't he evolved yet?"
The Kirlia, upon seeing the other Ralts having returned, rushed forward and kicked it backwards. Addison caught the Ralts in her hands.
"You can't just kick a Ralts like that!" Addison snapped. "Someone ought to teach you some manners."
"I couldn't agree more" Ryan insisted, reaching for a Pokémon Ball on his belt, though to his surprise, his Sandshrew leaped forward, eager for battle. "Sandshrew?" Ryan looked at the youngest Pokémon he owned. The Sandshrew growled at the Kirlia and then, without any prompting from Ryan, curled itself into a ball and ran over the Kirlia. The Kirlia fell over, but then leaped back to its feet and prepared for battle. Sandshrew turned around and then headed straight for Kirlia again, but the Kirlia used a Confusion attack and sent the Sandshrew flying over towards his trainer.
"Okay" Ryan said, catching his dizzy Sandshrew. "You may have beaten Sandshrew, but let's see how you handle Sparks!" He then sent his Jolteon out to battle next. "Sparks, use Thundershock!" The Jolteon planted its feet and then sent an electrical jolt directly at the Kirlia, zapping it and hurting it a bit. But the Kirlia quickly recovered.
To Ryan's surprise, a Ralts came running out towards his Jolteon and called to it. After a series of back and forths between the two Pokémon, his Jolteon simply sat back down.
"Sparks?" Ryan asked, confused. But the Ralts that Addison had been protecting leaps onto Ryan's shoulder and sees the Ralts trying to stop the violence and calls out to him. She then teleports over to him and the two embrace. Ryan scratched his head. "I am so confused."
Addison and Holly, meanwhile, cooed at the sight. "AWWWWWWWW" they both exclaimed. "Aren't they just precious?"
"What's going on?" Ryan asked, as his Jolteon looked back at him and barked.
The two Ralts feelers atop their heads connected and the two turned towards the rest of their families and tried to speak telepathically to them. The Ralts that had been watching the battle all acknowledged what was going on and began to chirp in excitement among one another. The Kirlia, frustrated, leaped forward and tossed the female Ralts aside, grabbing the second Ralts and dragging it away. The two Psychic Pokémon tried desperately to reach one another, prompting Sparks to return to his normal battling instincts and charge the Kirlia and slammed into it, causing the other Ralts to drop and hurry over towards the one it cared about.
Now enraged, the Kirlia took the Dawn Stone they had all been seemingly worshipping and used it on itself to evolve into a mighty Gallade. With arms as strong as steel and as sharp as swords, the now Psychic/Fighting Pokémon lunged forward to deliver a crushing blow to Sparks, slamming it down hard with a powerful Take Down attack.
The two Ralts recovered and saw the Gallade descending upon Sparks. Uniting their powers, the two Ralts unleashed a powerful Fairy Wind attack that devastated the Gallade. The aggressive Pokémon stumbled backwards, but cartwheeled back to his feet. The Gallade rushed the two, but Ryan jumped in front of the two with his Jolteon, and were tossed aside.
Holly screamed and ran over to check on Ryan. Addison called to her Eevee to come to protect the two Ralts, but the two told Eevee to stay behind, which she did. The two then turned and unleashed another devastating Fairy Winds, which blasted the Gallade in the face and knocked them backwards. The Gallade did recover, but was clearly winded. Infuriated, the Gallade rushes the Ralts one last time, before Sparks launched a powerful Electrical attack at the Gallade and knocked it out with a firm KO.
The Ralts who surrounded the powerful Kirlia looked at their KO'd former tormentor and celebrated. The two Ralts placed their feelers on each other as a sign of affection, prompting Addison to coo in delight. The then turned her attention towards Ryan, who was doing his best not to be tended to by a surprisingly worried and affectionate Holly.
"I'm fine" Ryan insisted, as Holly fussed over him.
"Are you sure?" she asked. "You don't need anything? You're not hurt? You don't need me to-"
Ryan grunted. "I'm fine. Trust me, Holly." He nevertheless did accept her hand back up and did his best to dust himself off, clutching at his injured arm when she wasn't looking. Ryan made his way over towards his dazed Sandshrew and Jolteon and embraced them. "You guys did really well. I'm proud of you."
The two Ralts looked towards Sparks and Ariel and telepathically thanked them. The four Pokémon then went into a lengthy dialogue that none of the humans could possibly understand. When they were finished, the Ralts called over towards Addison and Ryan. The two made their way over to the two Ralts. The Pokemon stuck their heads out towards the trainers. When the trainers did not respond, Ariel and Sparks took their trainer's arms with a playful bite and moved their hands towards the Ralts.
"Huh?" Ryan asked.
"Are you sure, Ariel?" Addison asked.
When both Pokemon nodded, Ryan and Addison proceeded to use their index fingers to touch the feeler atop the Male and Female Ralts's heads. In a flash, both Trainers began to glow. Ryan envisioned a Gallade standing in front of him, helping defeat an unknown opponent bearing strange armor. When the vision broke free, Ryan fell backwards, as too did the Ralts. A second later, both the Female Ralts and Addison did the same.
"What was that?" Ryan asked. "Was that a vision?"
"I thought I saw-I think I saw this weird darkness" Addison explained. "I can't be too sure. But there was this darkness and it was engulfing you, Ryan."
"Me?"
"It was" Addison said, "until a Gardevoir blasted away the darkness."
"I saw-" Ryan began. "I saw-some armored bad guy. And I was fighting him with a Gallade at my side."
"What did it all mean?" Holly asked the both of them.
The Ralts soon recovered themselves and looked from one another to the two trainers. Then, the two shared the brightest smiles they possibly could and called to them.
"Does this mean-" Addison asked. Her Eevee jumped onto her lap and barked at her happily.
Ryan looked towards his Jolteon, who barked approvingly at him. "Okay, buddy. If that's what you want." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Okay, Ralts. If this is what you want, then I'd like to welcome you to the team." Ryan rolled the Poké Ball at the Ralts, who let it touch his feeler and then he vanished within it, securing the capture.
Addison took a Poké Ball out of her pocket and then did the same with the Female Ralts she had befriended. "Okay, Ralts. I guess you'll go next. We wouldn't want to keep you and Ralts apart. And I can promise you, Ryan and I aren't leaving each other's side for anything." She missed Ryan looking away from her, beaming. The Ralts touched the Pokémon Ball with it's feeler and vanished into it. Both Addison and Ryan celebrated their new captures with a team pose of two fingers in the air!"
"YAHOO! WE CAUGHT A RALTS!" they said in unison.
After Ryan put his Pokemon into his bag and they all bid the other Ralts farewell, they climbed their way out of the small valley and back out onto the road towards Terra Town. Ryan climbed out of the bushes first and then pulled Addison and Holly out after him. "It feels good to have helped those Pokémon."
"We did a good thing, didn't we?" Addison said. "And we got two Ralts out of it!"
"I wish I could get another Pokémon myself" Holly said.
"I'm sure you will, Holly" Ryan told her. "You just have to find the right Pokémon. If you want, we'll help you."
"I'd like that" Holly told her friend.
Ryan grinned to himself. "See, I'm a good guy! Let's see that 'pretty boy' Jeremy Lockhart help someone out like I do."
"Jeremy?" Addison asked, confused. "What does he have to do with anything?"
"Uh, nothing! Let's just get a move on!" He looked towards the road. "I'll bet Terra Town is just up ahead. Come on!"
Addison gasped. "Why, Ryan Kingston! Are you jealous of Jeremy?"
"Who's Jeremy?" Ryan remarked. "Now come on, let's get to Terra Town!"
"YOU ARE!" Addison accused.
Ryan then took off down the road. "What was that? I can't hear you!"
"RYAN! GET BACK HERE!" Addison took off after him, with Holly close behind her.